On this day in history

August 18

32 births · 18 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

160

Unification of Germany

160 years ago

Born this day

1933

Roman Polanski

Turns 93

Oldest record

750th

Adrian V

death anniversary

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Famous births32

1750 · 276 yrs

Antonio Salieri

Antonio Salieri (18 August 1750 – 7 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period. Salieri was a pivotal figure in the development of late 18th-century opera.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 74

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Photo: Joseph Willibrord Mähler · Public domain

1780 · 246 yrs

Pierre-Jean de Béranger

Pierre-Jean de Béranger (French pronunciation:; 19 August 1780 – 16 July 1857) was a prolific French poet and chansonnier (songwriter), who enjoyed great popularity and influence in France during his lifetime, but faded into obscurity in the decades following his death.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 76

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1792 · 234 yrs

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 1866.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 85

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Photo: John Jabez Edwin Mayall · Public domain

1830 · 196 yrs

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (German: Franz Joseph Karl; Hungarian: Ferenc József Károly; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his death in 1916.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 86

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Photo: Carl Pietzner · Public domain

1863 · 163 yrs

Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii

Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky (Russian: Сергей Михайлович Прокудин-Горский, IPA:; 30 August 1863 – September 27, 1944) was a Russian chemist and photographer. He is best known for his pioneering work in colour photography and his effort to document the early 20th-century Russian Empire.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 81

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1870 · 156 yrs

Lavr Kornilov

Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov (Russian: Лавр Георгиевич Корнилов, IPA:; 30 August 1870 – 13 April 1918) was a Russian military intelligence officer, explorer, and general in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 47

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1900 · 126 yrs

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (née Swarup Nehru; 18 August 1900 – 1 December 1990) was an Indian freedom fighter, diplomat and politician. She served as the 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1953 to 1954, the first woman and the only Indian to have been appointed to this post.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 126

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Photo: Bassano · Public domain

1919 · 107 yrs

Godfrey Hounsfield

Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield ( HOWNZ-feeld; 28 August 1919 – 12 August 2004) was an English electrical engineer who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Allan MacLeod Cormack for his part in developing the diagnostic technique of X-ray computed tomography (CT).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

TechnologyWould be 107

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1920 · 106 yrs

Shelley Winters

Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress, whose film career spanned seven decades. In 1943 she changed her name to Shelley, after her favorite poet, and Winter(s) taking her mother's maiden name.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 106

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Photo: Unknown author Unknown author studio photographer · Public domain

1922 · 104 yrs

Alain Robbe-Grillet

Alain Robbe-Grillet (French:; 18 August 1922 – 18 February 2008) was a French writer and filmmaker. He was one of the figures most associated with the Nouveau Roman (lit. 'new novel') trend of the 1960s, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and Claude Simon.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 104

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Photo: Jose Lara · CC BY-SA 2.0

1927 · 99 yrs

Rosalynn Carter

Eleanor Rosalynn Carter ( ROH-zə-lin; née Smith; August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023) was an American activist and humanitarian who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter, from their marriage from 1946 until her death in 2023.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ActivismWould be 99

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Photo: File:Rose Carter, official color photo, 1977.jpg : White House derivative work: Hagar ( User talk:Hagar ) · Public domain

1932 · 94 yrs

Luc Montagnier

Luc Montagnier (US: MON-tən-YAY, MOHN-tahn-YAY, French:; 18 August 1932 – 8 February 2022) was a French virologist and joint recipient, with Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Harald zur Hausen, of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 94

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Photo: Prolineserver ( talk ) · GFDL 1.2

Showing 12 of 32

Famous deaths18

1276 · 750 yrs

Adrian V

Pope Adrian V (Latin: Hadrianus V; c. 1210/1220 – 18 August 1276), born Ottobuono de' Fieschi, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 July 1276 to his death on 18 August 1276.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 71

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1493 · 533 yrs

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (German: Friedrich III, 21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493) was the Holy Roman emperor from 1452 until his death in 1493. He was the penultimate emperor to be crowned by the pope, and the last to be crowned in Rome.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 77

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Photo: Attributed to Hans Burgkmair the Elder · Public domain

1503 · 523 yrs

Alexander VI

Pope Alexander VI (born Roderic de Borja y Llançol; c. 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 72

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Photo: Attributed to Pedro Berruguete · Public domain

1559 · 467 yrs

Paul IV

Pope Paul IV (Latin: Paulus IV; Italian: Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559), born Gian Pietro Carafa, was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death, in August 1559.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 83

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Photo: Manner of Jacopino del Conte · Public domain

1563 · 463 yrs

Étienne de La Boétie

Étienne or Estienne de La Boétie (French:, also or; Occitan: Esteve de La Boetiá; 1 November 1530 – 18 August 1563) was a French magistrate, classicist, writer, poet and political theorist, best remembered for his relationship with essayist Michel de Montaigne.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 32

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Photo: Tommy-Boy · CC BY-SA 4.0

1620 · 406 yrs

Wanli Emperor

The Wanli Emperor (4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun, was the 14th emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1572 to 1620. He succeeded his father, the Longqing Emperor.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 56

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Photo: Ming Dynasty Imperial Painter · Public domain

1642 · 384 yrs

Guido Reni

Guido Reni (Italian pronunciation:; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian Baroque painter, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious works, but also mythological and allegorical subjects.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 66

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Photo: Guido Reni · Public domain

1648 · 378 yrs

Ibrahim I

Ibrahim (Ottoman Turkish: ابراهيم; Turkish: İbrahim; 13 October 1617 – 18 August 1648) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1640 until his death in 1648.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 32

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1765 · 261 yrs

Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor

Francis I (Francis Stephen; French: François Étienne; German: Franz Stefan; Italian: Francesco Stefano; 8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1745 to 1765, Archduke of Austria from 1740 to 1765, Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1729 to 1737, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1737 to 1765.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 56

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Photo: Martin van Meytens · Public domain

1850 · 176 yrs

Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac ( BAL-zak, also US: BAWL-; French:; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence La Comédie humaine, described as a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 51

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Photo: Louis-Auguste Bisson · Public domain

1944 · 82 yrs

Ernst Thälmann

Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (German:; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German communist politician, revolutionary, and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 140

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Photo: Agence de presse Meurisse · Public domain

1945 · 81 yrs

Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan left a legacy vexed by authoritarianism, antisemitism, and military…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 129

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Photo: Unknown (Netaji Research Bureau, Calcutta) · Public domain

Showing 12 of 18

Events5

1866 · 160 yrs

Unification of Germany

The Unification of Germany (German: Deutsche Einigung, pronounced ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without the Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1953 · 73 yrs

1953 Iranian coup d'état

On 19 August 1953, Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh was overthrown in a coup d'état that strengthened the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. It was instigated by the United Kingdom (MI6), under the name Operation Boot and the United States (CIA), under the name TP-AJAX Project or Operation Ajax.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1955 · 71 yrs

First Sudanese Civil War

The First Sudanese Civil War (also known as the Anyanya Rebellion or Anyanya I, after the name of the rebels, a term in the Madi language which means 'snake venom') was fought from 1955 to 1972 between the northern part of Sudan and the southern Sudan region which demanded representation and more regional autonomy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2018 · 8 yrs

2018 Asian Games

The 2018 Asian Games (Indonesian: Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or Asian Games 2018), officially known as the XVIII Asian Games, and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 2018 in Jakarta and Palembang.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

2020 · 6 yrs

2020 Malian coup d'état

On 18 August 2020, elements of the Malian Armed Forces began a mutiny, and subsequently undertook a coup d'état. Soldiers on pick-up trucks stormed the Soundiata military base in the town of Kati, where gunfire was exchanged before weapons were distributed from the armory and senior officers arrested.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

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